Endurance personified: 24h in the life of Romain Grosjean

Lamborghini Factory Driver Romain Grosjean opens up on life after Formula One as the countdown to the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with LMDh begins

Sant’Agata Bolognese, 20 June 2023 – Former Formula One and Lamborghini factory driver Romain Grosjean is preparing for his next challenge: as a key player in Lamborghini’s campaign in the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship. Profiled in two new Lamborghini films, the Swiss-French star discusses the exhilarating power of endurance racing; the anticipation surrounding Lamborghini’s newly announced LMDh contender; and the impact the events of the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix had on his life, and personal philosophy.

Now based in Miami, 36-year old Grosjean made 179 race starts in Formula One in a career that spanned nine seasons, from 2012 to 2020, as well as appearances in 2009. Since 2021 he has competed in the American IndyCar Series. He made his debut for Lamborghini’s Squadra Corse motorsport division when he raced a Huracán GT3 EVO2 in the celebrated Daytona 24 Hours race in January 2023. With progress on the LMDh rapidly gathering momentum, Grosjean is playing a key role in the development of Lamborghini’s eagerly-awaited LMDh racing hybrid prototype. The car is powered by an all-new 3.8-liter twin turbo V8, whose power output is limited by regulation to 680 CV.

Says Grosjean, “I love endurance racing. When I moved to the US, I really wanted to come to Daytona and the opportunity came with Lamborghini to do it. I love the atmosphere, and I love the fact that we were able to represent such an iconic brand. When you’re 20, all you care about is being the fastest. Now I’m older I love having team-mates. It’s not only about you, it’s about making sure that your team is the best around the race-track. It’s about compromise and making sure that everyone is happy.”

He continues: ‘There’s a lot of trust there, and the biggest challenge really is the endurance – for everyone, including the mechanics and the engineers. The drivers get the easy job, we get to rest! You have to expect the unexpected in endurance racing, and be ready for it.”

As well as the FIA World Endurance Championship, which includes the famously challenging Le Mans 24 Hours race, the LMDh will also contest the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in North America. This marks Lamborghini’s greatest commitment yet in motorsport following three class wins in the GTD category at the 24 Hours of Daytona, two consecutive wins in the Sebring 12 Hours, and numerous other successes during the past decade. Now the Hypercar class of the world’s two most fiercely contested endurance racing championships beckons, with Grosjean one of the drivers leading the charge.

“I’m very excited to be part of the project with the LMDh for next year,” he says. “I love the brand, I like the project, I like the approach, I like the people behind it. I know there’s a lot of work to do and there’s going to be a lot of learning for everyone, but I’m ready. Lamborghini is a brand that loves to be successful, one with a lot of history. So when we go into something, we need to do it right.”

During the opening lap of the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, Grosjean survived a terrifyingly high-speed impact which saw him trapped in his Haas VF-20 for 28 seconds while an inferno raged. Arguably one of the most dramatic incidents in modern F1 history, Grosjean reflects positively on how the crash and its aftermath have affected his life.

“My accident changed my perspective in a big way. Being brave is about pushing yourself to always go further than you think you’re going to go. It’s about challenging yourself. Life is a beautiful thing, and I didn’t realize it could go away so quickly until that accident. It sounds a bit crazy but because my life is better now, I would think of [my accident] as a positive. I want to enjoy life in a bigger way, have fun and make sure that every day is a good day. I’m aware that I take risks in my life but there are also limits I set for myself.”

A committed family man, amongst his many talents Grosjean is an accomplished cook, and recently learned to fly. This is a man dedicated to expanding his horizons. “I’m a father, I’m a husband. I’m just someone normal that loves activities, that loves ‘doing’. When I start something I go flat-out. Flying makes my travelling and my life more efficient and more fun. I feel peaceful when I fly. You are taking a small space in the sky for yourself when you fly, you see the Earth in a different way.”

Back on terra firma, Grosjean has an equally stimulating mode of transport: a Lamborghini Urus Performante[1]. As he says, it’s a family car but one with a serious twist. “It’s just so cool to drive. The Performante sounds amazing, and even if it’s an SUV everyone knows it’s a Lamborghini. And I’ve got space for my kids.”

Lamborghini’s outstanding colour palette presented some problems, however. “My daughter wanted purple or pink. My second son wanted yellow. My eldest son wanted orange, and my wife wanted black. So I said, ‘all right guys, you know what? We’re going to go with green. It’s my car, I decide…”